Nathan Lee, Founder & CEO of Send Musicians To Prison, will retire after more than 15yrs.
He has helmed the organization since 2009.
Lee is responsible for building more than 1000 Live Music events in Maximum Security Prisons across the United States.
Lee’s successor will be announced in early 2025.
Alongside the SMTP board and board advisors, Lee has worked with multiple genres of artists, including The War & Treaty, Lecrae, Andy Mineo, Steven Curtis Chapman, Anne Wilson, Cory Asbury, Walker Hayes, Blessing Offor, Ruston Kelly, Toby Mac, Tommy Sims, The Warren Brothers, Project Pat, Struggle Jennings, Joy Oladokun, Bones Owens, among others.
Lee is also responsible for building a re-entry school for incarcerated females in Nashville TN in partnership with the Davidson County Sheriff’s office, to prepare for life on the outside. This ongoing semester-long program known as “The Academy” has been active since 2018, and offers weekly classes to focus on healing from abuse, anger management, and spiritual growth.
“There are too many people to thank specifically for supporting me along the way. No one greater than the other. From Board members, Donors, Advisors, Wardens, Chaplains, Sheriffs, Music Executives, Managers and Artists. -I’d like to personally thank the outstanding production crew who bring these events to life. Their fearlessness and professionalism is on a level that leaves me humbled as their leader & teammate. The story of Send Musicians To Prison is a story of Faith, far more than a business model for non-profits. Our whole intention has always been to bring Love & Hope to the incarcerated through high quality music, and remind them they are not their worst day. The countless letters we have received from inmates over the years is the affirmation and fuel that has kept us going. I will be forever grateful to have had this opportunity in my life, it is the greatest work I have known thus far”
Send Musicians To Prison records and films their events, then streams these episodes back in to prisons around the world at no cost to the inmate population. This content reaches more than 200,000 inmates per month. As payment, artists receive ownership of the recording of their performance for sharing their time. All donations allow these events to continue, a model never seen before Lee made his vision in to the reality of
Send Musicians to Prison.
“Lee has built a model that leaves the team with a strong foundation moving forward. His ability to bring so many relationships together across the country will truly sustain this organization”
-SMTP Board
“My wife and I have been supporters of Nathan Lee and SMTP since 2014. In that time we’ve been privileged to make several trips into the jails and prisons SMTP works with. It’s been humbling to see the power of music transform even the darkest of places and the most broken of people.”
-Randy Goodman: Sony Music
“Bringing live music inside the toughest prisons in America is hard. And oftentimes dark and heavy and full of challenges. And, yes, for more than 15 years, led by Nathan’s incredible vision, grit, relationships and passion, he has brought more hope and more love into the lives of men and women through music. These men, from Riker’s Island, San Quentin and Tennessee’s Death Row to dozens of other prisons throughout the country, have heard the love, hope and message of redemption from our country’s finest artists and songwriters. I have had the privilege to have a front-row seat to the incredibly difficult but extremely important and fulfilling work that Send Musicians to Prison is doing and I am eternally grateful for Nathan’s vision and leadership!”
-Jeff Dobyns: President: Sage Spring Wealth partners & SMTP Board Member
“The impact of Nathan Lee & Send Musicians to Prison is a thing of wonder. Some of the most hardened, streetwise and prison savvy men and women have been impacted in New York City and around the country, where I’ve witnessed connection and restoration of hope through music and personal stories. The incarcerated are reminded that their stories aren't over, and that people on the outside care about them. The artists that Nathan has scheduled over the past 15yrs have communicated personal stories of struggle and redemption that is a gift that goes beyond just music… it deeply reaches the hearts of inmates and has sustainable impact on prisons.”
-Warden Duffy: Rikers Island NYC & SMTP Board Advisor
